Large Packages Research Articles

Global infrastructure initiative and global recovery

Since September 2008, the global economy has witnessed its most tumultuous times since theGreat Depression. The impressive coordinated policy response of the G-20 nations has helped theworld avoid the worst scenario. However, the global economy, especially the advanced countries,has not fully recovered.Structural reforms are required for advanced countries to regain their competitiveness and nor-mal growth.Withoutstructuralreforms,thedebt-riddencountriesinSouthernEuropearelikelytorequire repeated and increasingly large rescue packages. And without structural reforms in Japanand the United States, they will also suffer from sluggish growth, persistently high unemploymentand rapid accumulation of public debts. These advanced countries will continue their loose mon-etary policies to keep interest rates low to support the financial system, help indebted households,and reduce the costs for refinancing public debts. The likely outcome is that the Eurozone, Japan,and the United States will all be trapped in a “new normal” of slow growth, high risks, and lowreturns to financial investment (Clarida, 2010) or even Japanese-style “lost decades”. Low interestrates will also encourage short-term speculative capital outflows to international commodity mar-kets (resulting in volatile prices) and to emerging economies (resulting in asset bubbles, currencyappreciation, and difficulties in macroeconomic management).

Special issue on China: Re-thinking China’s economic transition and development in the post-crisis era

China’ answer to the global crisis, with growing State spending has been appropriate, decisive and able to temporarily sustain growth. But such policies cannot be kept for long if other structural internal factors—such as reforms—are not going to change and consolidate quality growth factors. So there is a problem of sustainability in the near future (Lardy 2012). However the rapid increase of state investments in hard infrastructures (transport means) investments in rural construction, green economy, social services, (Fardoust et al. 2012), as part of the large stimulus package—have signified a contribution to the amelioration of the economic environment, improvement of territorial mobility, contributing to alleviate at some extend income inequalities. The questions are then related to future steps for policy agenda for next decades to come (World Bank 2012).

DEVELOPING LARGE CAI PACKAGES

The Office of Computer Based Instruction (OCBI) at the University of Delaware employs a systems approach to developing single computer assisted instructional (CAI) lessons. A content expert, a CAI designer, and a programmer work together to develop, review, and revise computer-based materials. An expanded systems approach is recommended when developing large CAI courseware packages. Much attentive planning to the overall package design is suggested before actual lesson development is begun.

Examining tournament theory in academe: implications for the field of human resource development

In a unique approach to applying theory to practice based on concepts of participant observation, this paper discusses and analyses potential applications of tournament theory to the academe with specific implications to the field of human resource development (HRD). For purposes of this paper, tournament theory, originally intended to explain large compensation packages given to CEOs and other executives, provides analysis and predictions for academe and specifically to the field of HRD, where predictions are not very optimistic for those entering the field as academics. The paper argues that tournaments in academe are becoming more complex and more difficult to compete and win, thus making it much more difficult to advance in the academe.

Improving Software Quality through Program Analysis

In this paper, we present the Program Analysis Framework (PAF) to analyze the software architecture and software modularity of large software packages using techniques in Aspect Mining. The basic idea about PAF is to record the call relationships information among the important elements firstly and then use the different analysis algorithms to find the crosscutting concerns which could destroy the modularity of the software from this recording information. We evaluate our framework through analyzing DATE, the ALICE Data-Acquisition (DAQ) software which handles the data flow from the detector electronics to the permanent storage archiving. The analysis results prove the effectiveness and efficiency of our framework. PAF has pinpointed a number of possible optimizations which could be applied and help maximizing the software quality. PAF could also be used for the analysis of other projects written in C language.

A New Model for Fast Analysis of Leveling Process

The paper deals with numerical analysis of the process of roller leveling of long products. The problem of multiple elastic plastic bending is solved by a program in Matlab, which is based on the Finite Element Method. The aim is to provide a simple, user friendly tool, capable of quick and reliable analysis of the process without the necessity to work with large multipurpose FEM packages. Direct solution of the problem is formulated, starting from the roll intermeshing and product geometry. Roller loading, product deflection, curvature and plastification are the output parameters of the program. With fast and reliable solution of the direct problem, optimal setting of the leveling process will be sought in an iterative process.

Economic and energy evaluation of a logistics system based on biomass modules

A biomass logistics system using large packages of sufficient size and density to maximize legal highway loads and rapid load/unload times was expected to minimize feedstock costs. Such a system has been field tested conceptually at Texas A&M University, but modeling was used to predict system performance prior to design of prototypes.Integrated Biomass Supply and Logistics (IBSAL), logistics system simulation software developed by the U.S. Department of Energy, was employed to build a simulation model of the conceptual system. The new machine concepts required development of new IBSAL elements to model machine functions. Through a sensitivity analysis, the significance of several factors associated with the design and performance of the conceptual machines was evaluated.The estimated logistics cost ranges from 19.65 $ Mg−1 to $41.26 $ Mg−1. The dry matter density of biomass modules, the operating efficiency of the forage harvester, and the travel speed of the module hauler proved to be the most influential factors for the system performance, and provide insights into design requirements.

Antitrust and Nonexcluding Ties

Notwithstanding hundreds of court decisions, tying arrangements remain enigmatic. Conclusions that go to either extreme, per se legality or per se illegality, invariably make simplifying assumptions that frequently do not obtain. For example, by ignoring double marginalization or tying product price cuts it becomes very easy to prove that a wide range of ties are anticompetitive. At the other extreme, by ignoring foreclosure possibilities one can readily conclude that ties are invariably benign. Ties have historically been thought to produce two kinds of competitive harm: “leverage,” or extraction; and foreclosure, or exclusion. The two theories are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, the premise of the foreclosure theory is that exclusion of rivals is harmful because it enables a firm to keep prices up or to prevent them from falling in response to the entry of new competitors. Ultimately, anticompetitive foreclosing ties must harm consumers. Is there any reason for thinking that ties that do not exclude anyone should be condemned under the antitrust laws? The issue can arise in several different contexts. The most common is the “unwanted” tied product. The purchaser does not want the tied product at all and is objecting about being forced to take and pay for it. This is basically the facts of the Ninth Circuit’s Brantley case, in which cable television consumers complain that the defendant cable television provider offers programming only in large packages of channels. The complaint was dismissed because the plaintiffs could not identify any independent program providers who were excluded by the arrangement. Another subset of cases involves customers complaining about the way the seller allocates the price between the tying and tied goods, typically in order to facilitate price discrimination. To be sure, customers may be injured when they want to purchase a smaller package than a seller wishes to sell. The customer might wish to buy a single residential lot rather than a rancher’s 1000 acre spread. Neither exclusion of a rival nor a restraint of trade producing lower market output is in prospect. Indeed, in a case such as Brantley the per channel cost of delivering a large number of channels is almost certainly lower than the per channel cost of delivering a few. The fixed cost component of a cable television system is a significant portion of its costs and the incremental costs of adding channels are very low. The Brantley plaintiffs simply want the seller to offer a smaller product. That is fundamentally not an antitrust problem.

Designing a counter-pressure device for crimping filaments

The high operating speeds of crimping machines, the use of large packages on these units, and the machines’ ease of maintenance provide for high performance indices in the production of crimped carpet filaments. Controlling the counter-pressure that exists during the filling of the crimping chamber will ensure the production of filaments with a constant crimping length. A new piece of equipment that includes a step motor is proposed for controlling counter-pressure in the crimping chamber of machines used to produce textured carpet filaments.

Impacts of sediment supply and local tectonics on clinoform distribution: the seismic stratigraphy of the mid Pleistocene-Holocene Indus Shelf

We present results from the first high-resolution seismic reflection survey of the inner Western Indus Shelf, and Indus Delta, Arabian Sea. The results show major regional differences in sedimentation across the shelf from east to west, as well as north to south, both since the Last Glacial Maximum (~20 ka) and over longer time scales. We identify 10 major regional reflectors, interpreted as representing sea level lowstands. Strong compressive folding is observed underlying a reflector we have called Horizon 6 in the north-western shelf, probably compression associated with the transpressional deformation of the Murray Ridge plate boundary. Downslope profiles show a series of well developed clinoforms, principally at the shelf edge, indicating significant preservation of large packages of sediment during lowstands. These clinoforms have developed close to zones of deformation, suggesting that subsidence is a factor in controlling sedimentation and consequently erosion of the Indus Shelf. These clinoforms fan out from dome features (tectonic anticlines) mostly located close to the modern shoreline.

Pushing the Envelope: Higher-Level Outsourcing and Systems Integration at Airbus

For producers of complex product systems, higher-level outsourcing – shifting larger packages with a wider scope of responsibility for design and integration to suppliers – is a double-edged sword:...

Japan’s Experience with Fiscal Policy in the 1990s in the Aftermath of the Bubble Economy

Nakao examines the evolution of Japanese fiscal policy in the Nineties and its current challenges. His account begins with an analysis of the collapse of the financial bubble at the beginning of the Nineties. He argues that the prolonged economic slump of the last decade largely depends on the effects of wealth losses on consumption and investment decisions and on balance sheet problems of financial and non-financial corporations. These problems were exacerbated by several structural factors, ranging from population ageing to the inflexibility of labour market and corporate governance. Nakao notes that Japanese authorities took an active approach. Many large fiscal packages were introduced to boost the economy determining a sizeable increase in public capital expenditure. Interest rates were reduced. Wide-ranging structural reforms were promoted. However, fiscal expansion did not succeed in reviving the economy. The multiplier effect of public works decreased. Public debt accumulation may have determined expectations of future tax increases; the productivity of the additional public works may have been rather limited. Nakao considers that policies that merely support demand cannot improve economic expectations. He advocates radical structural reforms and a rationalisation of public expenditure, including a better selection of capital projects. An increase of revenues, now relatively low as a ratio to GDP, may also be helpful in improving the budget balance. The author concludes that Japanese technology, saving ratio and well-educated labour force indicate that the country can successfully overcome its current problems.

Production of Lentiviral Vectors for Transducing Cells from the Central Nervous System

Efficient gene delivery in the central nervous system (CNS) is important in studying gene functions, modeling neurological diseases and developing therapeutic approaches. Lentiviral vectors are attractive tools in transduction of neurons and other cell types in CNS as they transduce both dividing and non-dividing cells, support sustained expression of transgenes, and have relatively large packaging capacity and low toxicity 1-3. Lentiviral vectors have been successfully used in transducing many neural cell types in vitro 4-6 and in animals 7-10. Great efforts have been made to develop lentiviral vectors with improved biosafety and efficiency for gene delivery. The current third generation replication-defective and self-inactivating (SIN) lentiviral vectors are depicted in Figure 1. The required elements for vector packaging are split into four plasmids. In the lentiviral transfer plasmid, the U3 region in the 5' long terminal repeat (LTR) is replaced with a strong promoter from another virus. This modification allows the transcription of the vector sequence independent of HIV-1 Tat protein that is normally required for HIV gene expression 11. The packaging signal (Ψ) is essential for encapsidation and the Rev-responsive element (RRE) is required for producing high titer vectors. The central polypurine tract (cPPT) is important for nuclear import of the vector DNA, a feature required for transducing non-dividing cells 12. In the 3' LTR, the cis-regulatory sequences are completely removed from the U3 region. This deletion is copied to 5' LTR after reverse transcription, resulting in transcriptional inactivation of both LTRs. Plasmid pMDLg/pRRE contains HIV-1 gag/pol genes, which provide structural proteins and reverse transcriptase. pRSV-Rev encodes Rev which binds to the RRE for efficient RNA export from the nucleus. pCMV-G encodes the vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSV-G) that replaces HIV-1 Env. VSV-G expands the tropism of the vectors and allows concentration via ultracentrifugation 13. All the genes encoding the accessory proteins, including Vif, Vpr, Vpu, and Nef are excluded in the packaging system. The production and manipulation of lentiviral vectors should be carried out according to NIH guidelines for research involving recombinant DNA (http://oba.od.nih.gov/oba/rac/Guidelines/NIH_Guidelines.pdf). An approval from individual Institutional Biological and Chemical Safety Committee may be required before using lentiviral vectors. Lentiviral vectors are commonly produced by cotransfection of 293T cells with lentiviral transfer plasmid and the helper plasmids encoding the proteins required for vector packaging. Many lentiviral transfer plasmids and helper plasmids can be obtained from Addgene, a non-profit plasmid repository (http://www.addgene.org/). Some stable packaging cell lines have been developed, but these systems provide less flexibility and their packaging efficiency generally declines over time 14, 15. Commercially available transfection kits may support high efficiency of transfection 16, but they can be very expensive for large scale vector preparations. Calcium phosphate precipitation methods provide highly efficient transfection of 293T cells and thus provide a reliable and cost effective approach for lentiviral vector production. In this protocol, we produce lentiviral vectors by cotransfection of 293T cells with four plasmids based on the calcium phosphate precipitation principle, followed by purification and concentration with ultracentrifugation through a 20% sucrose cushion. The vector titers are determined by fluorescence- activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis or by real time qPCR. The production and titration of lentiviral vectors in this protocol can be finished with 9 days. We provide an example of transducing these vectors into murine neocortical cultures containing both neurons and astrocytes. We demonstrate that lentiviral vectors support high efficiency of transduction and cell type-specific gene expression in primary cultured cells from CNS.

Production of Lentiviral Vectors for Transducing Cells from the Central Nervous System

Efficient gene delivery in the central nervous system (CNS) is important in studying gene functions, modeling neurological diseases and developing therapeutic approaches. Lentiviral vectors are attractive tools in transduction of neurons and other cell types in CNS as they transduce both dividing and non-dividing cells, support sustained expression of transgenes, and have relatively large packaging capacity and low toxicity. Lentiviral vectors have been successfully used in transducing many neural cell types in vitro and in animals. Great efforts have been made to develop lentiviral vectors with improved biosafety and efficiency for gene delivery. The current third generation replication-defective and self-inactivating (SIN) lentiviral vectors are depicted in Figure 1. The required elements for vector packaging are split into four plasmids. In the lentiviral transfer plasmid, the U3 region in the 5' long terminal repeat (LTR) is replaced with a strong promoter from another virus. This modification allows the transcription of the vector sequence independent of HIV-1 Tat protein that is normally required for HIV gene expression. The packaging signal (Ψ) is essential for encapsidation and the Rev-responsive element (RRE) is required for producing high titer vectors. The central polypurine tract (cPPT) is important for nuclear import of the vector DNA, a feature required for transducing non-dividing cells. In the 3' LTR, the cis-regulatory sequences are completely removed from the U3 region. This deletion is copied to 5' LTR after reverse transcription, resulting in transcriptional inactivation of both LTRs. Plasmid pMDLg/pRRE contains HIV-1 gag/pol genes, which provide structural proteins and reverse transcriptase. pRSV-Rev encodes Rev which binds to the RRE for efficient RNA export from the nucleus. pCMV-G encodes the vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSV-G) that replaces HIV-1 Env. VSV-G expands the tropism of the vectors and allows concentration via ultracentrifugation. All the genes encoding the accessory proteins, including Vif, Vpr, Vpu, and Nef are excluded in the packaging system. The production and manipulation of lentiviral vectors should be carried out according to NIH guidelines for research involving recombinant DNA (http://oba.od.nih.gov/oba/rac/Guidelines/NIH_Guidelines.pdf). An approval from individual Institutional Biological and Chemical Safety Committee may be required before using lentiviral vectors. Lentiviral vectors are commonly produced by cotransfection of 293T cells with lentiviral transfer plasmid and the helper plasmids encoding the proteins required for vector packaging. Many lentiviral transfer plasmids and helper plasmids can be obtained from Addgene, a non-profit plasmid repository (http://www.addgene.org/). Some stable packaging cell lines have been developed, but these systems provide less flexibility and their packaging efficiency generally declines over time. Commercially available transfection kits may support high efficiency of transfection, but they can be very expensive for large scale vector preparations. Calcium phosphate precipitation methods provide highly efficient transfection of 293T cells and thus provide a reliable and cost effective approach for lentiviral vector production. In this protocol, we produce lentiviral vectors by cotransfection of 293T cells with four plasmids based on the calcium phosphate precipitation principle, followed by purification and concentration with ultracentrifugation through a 20% sucrose cushion. The vector titers are determined by fluorescence- activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis or by real time qPCR. The production and titration of lentiviral vectors in this protocol can be finished with 9 days. We provide an example of transducing these vectors into murine neocortical cultures containing both neurons and astrocytes. We demonstrate that lentiviral vectors support high efficiency of transduction and cell type-specific gene expression in primary cultured cells from CNS.

Inside Millennium Development Goal 4

* Abbreviations: MDG — : Millennium Development Goal U5MR — : under-5 mortality rate UN — : United Nations This Pediatrics Perspectives column traces the origins of the promises and commitments made to decrease global under-5 mortality. The disparities that exist worldwide are extraordinarily large, although significant progress has been made since the establishment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Dr Spector traces the origins and challenges of Goal 4 (of 8) that relate specifically to this issue. Although overall survival rates are improving, outcome gaps in under-5 mortality have widened between rich and poor nations. Clearly, the MDGs must be looked at as a large package. There are specific measurements for each goal, but success in 1 area influences the outcomes in the others. Our advocacy efforts should focus on improving the lives of the world's poorest people broadly. World leaders have committed to achieving the MDGs by 2015. We all need to use our influence and personal resources to push the international community to succeed in eliminating extreme poverty and hunger everywhere, ultimately allowing for elimination of the growing health disparities among the affluent and poorest nations . —Jay E. Berkelhamer, MD Editor, Global Health Perspectives The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have been dubbed the “world's biggest promise.”1 At the turn of the 21st century, 189 (now 192) United Nations (UN) member states agreed to support the most comprehensive poverty reduction objectives ever established (Table 1).2,3 Child mortality is addressed through Goal 4: reduction of the global under-5 mortality rate (U5MR) by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015, equivalent to an annual drop rate of 4.3% (Table 2).4 In 1990, the U5MR was estimated at 84 of 1000 live births, and 11.9 million largely preventable child deaths took place. If MDG 4 could be achieved, 30 million children would be saved by 2015.2 Since their launch, the MDGs have been … Address correspondence to Jonathan M. Spector, MD, MPH, Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management, 4th Floor, 677 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115. E-mail: jspector{at}hsph.harvard.edu

Risk and the evolution of human exchange

Compared with other species, exchange among non-kin is a hallmark of human sociality in both the breadth of individuals and total resources involved. One hypothesis is that extensive exchange evolved to buffer the risks associated with hominid dietary specialization on calorie dense, large packages, especially from hunting. 'Lucky' individuals share food with 'unlucky' individuals with the expectation of reciprocity when roles are reversed. Cross-cultural data provide prima facie evidence of pair-wise reciprocity and an almost universal association of high-variance (HV) resources with greater exchange. However, such evidence is not definitive; an alternative hypothesis is that food sharing is really 'tolerated theft', in which individuals possessing more food allow others to steal from them, owing to the threat of violence from hungry individuals. Pair-wise correlations may reflect proximity providing greater opportunities for mutual theft of food. We report a laboratory experiment of foraging and food consumption in a virtual world, designed to test the risk-reduction hypothesis by determining whether people form reciprocal relationships in response to variance of resource acquisition, even when there is no external enforcement of any transfer agreements that might emerge. Individuals can forage in a high-mean, HV patch or a low-mean, low-variance (LV) patch. The key feature of the experimental design is that individuals can transfer resources to others. We find that sharing hardly occurs after LV foraging, but among HV foragers sharing increases dramatically over time. The results provide strong support for the hypothesis that people are pre-disposed to evaluate gains from exchange and respond to unsynchronized variance in resource availability through endogenous reciprocal trading relationships.

Study on the Behavior of Solar Array Deployment with Root Hinge Drive Assembly

In this paper, a method of using a root hinge drive assembly (RHDA) to control the solar array deployment is provided and a multi-DOF mechanism dynamic model of the system is established. In this way, the root hinge torque can be calculated iteratively. Then taking the predicted torque as a reference, a RHDA is designed for a large multiple-stage packaging and deployable solar array system. The control effect of the drive assembly is validated by ground tests. The test results indicate that the solar arrays can be deployed smoothly, and the deployment velocities are restricted by the drive assembly as expected. During the tests, the RHDA output speed and output torque are obtained. In order to examine the impact force when the yoke is lock-up with a hard stop, dynamics simulations are performed according to the actual behavior. The simulation result indicates that the designed RHDA reduces the impact force significantly and improves the lock-up reliability effectively.

Comparing Usage Patterns Recorded between an Electronic Reference and an Electronic Monograph Collection: The Differences in Searches and Full-Text Content Viewings

This paper presents the results from a quantitative and systematic analysis comparing the online usage of an e-reference and an e-monograph collection. A very strong relationship exists between size and usage: the larger the collection, the greater the usage. An equally strong relationship exists between searches and viewings, meaning that the more there are searches performed, the more will full-text content be viewed. The smaller e-reference collection has also seen significantly greater use proportional to its size compared to the much larger e-monograph collection. E-monographs have not seen significant usage until after the addition of very large academic e-book packages.

Regime dependence of the fiscal multiplier

After the financial market meltdown of the years 2007–2008 the Obama administration responded with large fiscal stimulus package, yet the reaction to this stimulus has been diverse. Some predicted a multiplier effect in the order of 1.5, others argued that the multiplier will be less than 0.5. Such multiplier estimates typically stem from estimated linear vector autoregressions (VARs) or linearized versions of DSGE models. In this paper, we argue that neither conventional VAR analysis nor linearized DGSE models may be appropriate to evaluate demand effects arising from such a stimulus package. The reason is, as recent research suggests, that the timing of demand shocks matters. To assess the multiplier's variability, we adopt a regime-dependent VAR approach. As is shown in detail, our model specification is grounded on theoretical considerations. The empirical analysis presented here suggests that a regime-dependent VAR-specification is favored for U.S. output and employment data, and that the standard (one-regime) VAR methodology is inappropriate for analyzing multi-regime processes. Although we employ a nonlinear VAR framework, the chosen setup allows the use of largely familiar macroeconometric modeling tools. Estimating a two-regime VAR, we show that the fiscal multiplier varies with the state of the business cycle and the particular specifics of the measure taken. For the U.S. we find, for example, the fiscal expansion multiplier is much higher in a regime of a low economic activity than in a regime of high activity. As we also show it is size dependent.

Mechanical Design and Characterization for MEMS Thin-Film Packaging

In this paper, a thin-film packaging approach is developed. It is meant to provide microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices with hermetic encapsulation that is sufficiently strong for transfer molding. A flat slab structure supported by columns is considered as basic geometry for the mechanical model. It takes into account both the plate deflection and the stress at the interface with the columns. To verify the model validity, thin-film packages are fabricated using silicon nitride as material for the capping layer. Both high- and low-temperature processes are used to fabricate the packages. The packages differ for the diameter of the columns (from 2 μm to 28 μm), the distances between columns (from 20 μm to 100 μm), and the capping layer thickness (from 3 μm to 7 μm). The packages are tested at different pressures up to 12.5 MPa (125 bar). Failure points agree well with the mechanical model. The largest package fabricated is a square package of 300 μm side length and with four columns (10 μm diameter) in the middle. It withstands a pressure of 10 MPa with a thin SiN capping layer with a thickness of 6 μm. Moreover, the packages are carried through grinding, dicing, and transfer molding, demonstrating that the presented thin-film encapsulation approach is robust enough for commercial first-level packaging.